Children's Statistics - Americas

7.5 million girls are married before age 18 in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNICEF).

Nearly 1 in 3 girls across Latin America are married off before the age of 18. In the Dominican Republic, 41 percent of girls marry before age 18 (Girls Not Brides).

In Latin America and the Caribbean, 12.5 million children are engaged in child labor, representing 8 percent of all children in the region (USDOL).

As of Feb. 29, 2016, 23,553 unaccompanied minors have been apprehended at the U.S. border with Mexico, representing an 89 percent increase from all of 2015 (U.S. Customs and Border Protection).

United States:

In 2014, about 702,000 children were victims of maltreatment, which includes neglect, physical abuse and sexual abuse (U.S. Department of Health and Human).

In 2014, 1,546 children died from abuse and neglect, and 71 percent of these children were younger than 3 years old. More than 44 percent of children who die from abuse and neglect every year are under a year old (U.S. Department of Health and Human).

In 2014, 21 percent of children in the United States were living in poverty (National Center for Children in Poverty).

There were 415,129 children in foster care in the United States in 2014 (AFCARS).

In 2014, more than half of children entering U.S. foster care were young people of color (AFCARS).

In 2014, more than 22,000 young people aged out of foster care without permanent families. Research has shown that those who leave care without being linked to adoptive families have a higher likelihood than youth in the general population to experience homelessness, unemployment and incarceration as adults (AFCARS).